To facilitate installation of siding and roofing covering panels, polymer panels designed for such a use commonly include a plurality of fastener apertures each comprising an elongated slot defined in a section of each panel. In order to perform installation thereof, it is customary to drive a mechanical fastener, such as, for example and without being limitative, a nail or the like, through each slot and into a bearing substrate to which the panel is superposed, thus securing the panel thereto. The elongated slots can be configured to allow the panel to slide relative to the mechanical fastener extending through the slot and secured to the underlying bearing substrate, as the polymer material of the panel expands and contracts due to changing environmental temperatures. In order to favor movement between the panel and the mechanical fastener, the mechanical fastener should be positioned substantially in a middle of each elongated slot in order to permit the unfettered relative movement of the panel in either direction (i.e. in order to accommodate both contraction and expansion of the panel).
Unfortunately, hasty installation can lead to the misplacement of the mechanical fasteners inside the elongated slot, thereby leading to the mechanical fastener being located too close to either ends of the slots, rather than substantially in the middle thereof. When such misplacement of the mechanical fasteners occurs, relative movement of the panel in either direction with regards to the mechanical fastener can lead to abutment of the fastener with one of the slot ends, thereby resulting in unwanted buckling of the panel.
In addition to misplacement along the elongated slots, another common occurrence during installation of such panels is for fasteners to be driven too deeply into the substrate, such that the panel is effectively pinned against the bearing substrate and unable to move relative to the fastener in response to changes in the environmental temperature. Similarly to misplacement of the fastener within the slot, this alternative installation error can also lead to unwanted buckling of the panel. In some cases, the fastener can even be driven through the panel completely, for example when a pneumatic hammer is used to drive the fastener, thereby leading to no securement of the panel to the bearing substrate.
In order to alleviate some of the above-described issues, fastener centering-guides and hammer stops are known for limiting the depth to which a fastener can be driven into each elongated slot by a hammer (see for instance U.S. Pat. No. 8,020,353 granted to the Applicant). For example, one such centering-guides and hammer stop comprises a raised, rigid stop surfaces with the stop surfaces positioned about each elongated slot so as to confront the face of a hammer having a head diameter greater than the distance between the stop surfaces. The stop surfaces of such a hammer stop are elevated above each elongated slot of a distance sufficient to prevent the mechanical fastener from being driven into the slot to a depth at which the panel is prevented from moving relative to the mechanical fastener during expansion and contraction of the panel. The elongated slot can also include a visual indicator of the position along the slot where the mechanical fastener is to be inserted.
Known centering-guides and hammer stops however tend to suffer from several drawbacks. For example, known centering-guides and hammer stops are not adapted to be used in combination with pneumatic hammers. Indeed, such pneumatic hammers commonly have hammer head shapes which make it difficult to properly position the pneumatic hammer in order to insert the mechanical fastener in proper position along the elongated groove (substantially in the middle thereof) and/or at a proper height relative to the elongated groove (to ensure that the mechanical fastener discharged by the pneumatic hammer is not driven to deeply into the substrate or completely through the panel), when using panels provided with existing centering-guides and/or hammer stops. Hence, the hasty installation of a polymer panel with a pneumatic hammer can lead to the misplacement of fasteners too close to either ends of the elongated slots and/or too deep within the bearing substrate, thereby leading to unwanted buckling of the building product.
Another drawback associated with the installation of known polymer panels relates to their installation when employed in a vertical interlocking engagement with adjacent covering panels requiring an overlap of the marginal edge sections of the panels to cover and conceal the fasteners. The panels are typically planar but slanted when mounted to the bearing substrate, i.e. diagonally-extending with respect to the substrate. Thus, following installation, an upper marginal edge section abuts the bearing substrate while a lower marginal edge section is spaced apart therefrom. A relatively long section of the panel is spaced-apart from the bearing substrate when secured thereto. When pressure is momentarily applied thereon, the covering panels mounted to the bearing substrate offers some springback, i.e. they bend towards the bearing substrate when pressure is applied thereon and return to their original configuration when the pressure is removed. Such springback reduces the resemblance with natural building elements.
In view of the above, there is a need for an improved covering panel which, by virtue of its design and components, would be able to overcome or at least minimize some of the above-discussed prior art concerns.